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1.蜂共有16000个品种，大多数是独居生活，只有大约5%的蜂是社会性群居，最著名的当然就是蜜蜂了，单一一个蜂巢里就有80000只蜜蜂。 2 Drones—the male honeybees—live only for mating with the queen. If there is a shortage of food in the hive, the workers kick their lazy, gigolo asses out. Worker bees have strictly regimented roles, including that of undertakers 2. 雄蜂的唯一职责就是与蜂王交配，如果蜂巢中出现食物短缺的情况，工蜂们就会将这些懒惰的大情圣们赶出去，工蜂相当的严厉刻板，甚至扮演送葬者的角色。 3 To die for: When drones mate, they die afterwards from a ruptured abdomen. Sex detaches their endophallus, which gets stuck inside the queen. 3. 为你而死——雄蜂交配时生殖器会留在蜂王体内，交配之后会因腹部破裂而死。 4 She continues to mate—the drones aren’t terribly smart, apparently—until she collects more than 70 million sperm from multiple males. 4. 雄蜂显然并不怎么聪明，蜂王会持续交配，直到她从众多雄蜂处收集到超过7千万的精子。 5 The queen was known as the king until the late 1660s, when Dutch scientist Jan Swammerdam dissected the hive’s big bee and discovered ovaries. 5. 蜂王曾一直被误认为是雄性，直到17世纪60年代晚期，荷兰科学家 杨 · 斯瓦莫丹 通过解剖了发现了蜂王的卵巢。 6 Someone call Homeland Security! Australian researchers discovered that honeybees can distinguish human faces. The insects were shown black-and-white pictures and given treats for right answers. 6. 澳大利亚研究者们发现蜜蜂可以识别人脸，研究人员们给蜜蜂看了一些黑白照片，蜜蜂能做出正确的反馈。哇！快通知国土安全局！ 7 Oh, someone did call Homeland Security. In the Stealthy Insect Sensor Project, Los Alamos scientists have trained bees to recognize explosives. 7. 噢，已经有人联系过国土安全局了，在隐形昆虫传感器项目中，洛斯阿拉莫斯国家实验室的科学家们已经在训练蜜蜂识别炸药了。 8 The term “honeymoon” is derived from an old northern European custom in which newlyweds would consume a daily cup of mead, made with fermented honey, for a month.
8. “蜜月”一词来自古老的北欧习俗，新婚夫妇每天要饮用一杯由蜂蜜发酵制成的蜂蜜酒，持续一个月。
9 The term “bee’s knees” was coined by American cartoonist Tad Dorgan, who was also responsible for “the cat’s pajamas,” “the flea’s eyebrows,” “the canary’s tusks,” and (apropos of nothing) “Yes, we have no bananas.” 9. “出类拔萃”一词是由美国漫画家 泰德 · 多尔根创造的，此外，他还创造了“不同凡响”等俚语，以及无厘头般的吐槽。 10 During World War I, honey was used to treat the wounds of soldiers because it attracts and absorbs moisture, making it a valuable healing agent. 10. 一战时期，蜂蜜因为吸湿和保湿的功效，成为了非常有价值的愈合剂，被用来治疗士兵的伤口。 11 Honey never spoils. Ever. 11. 蜂蜜绝对不会腐坏。 12 Bumblebees can estimate time intervals. Researchers have found that the insects extend their tongues in tandem with the rhythm of a sweet reward. This aids in the hunt for nectar, whose availability waxes and wanes. 12. 大黄蜂可感知时间间隔的长短。研究者们发现大黄蜂在同一蜜源采蜜时有一定的时间间隔，这样有助于寻找新的蜜源，以及保证蜜源的质量和产量。 13 Melittosphex burmensis, recently found preserved in amber in a mine in northern Myanmar, is the oldest bee known. It lived 100 million years ago. 13. 最近在缅甸北部的一个矿洞挖出的琥珀中发现了人类所知的最古老的蜂种——Melittosphex burmensis，它生活在距今1亿年前。 14 After he had pioneered the laws of genetics with pea plants, Austrian monk Gregor Mendel bred a strain of hybrid bees. Unfortunately, they were so vicious he had to kill them. 14. 奥地利修道士格雷戈尔 · 孟德尔通过豌豆杂交实验，做出遗传法则的先驱研究之后，孕育了一群杂交蜂，但不幸的是，这种蜂由于过于凶狠，孟德尔不得不杀了它们。 15 The buzz that you hear when a bee approaches is the sound of its four wings moving at 11,400 strokes per minute. Bees fly an average of 15 miles per hour. 15. 当一只蜂飞近，你听到的嗡嗡蜂鸣声其实是蜂以每分钟11400次的频率，扇动4个翅膀发出的声音，蜂的平均飞行速度是约每小时2414米。 16 A newly hatched queen immediately kills all other hatched and unhatched queens in the hive. 16. 刚孵化出来的蜂王会立即杀死同一个蜂巢内已孵化或即将孵化的蜂王。 17 The Honeybee Boogie: In 1943 Austrian zoologist Karl von Frisch published his study on the dances bees perform to alert fellow workers. A round dance indicates that food is close by; a waggle dance means it is distant. 17. 1943年，奥地利动物学家卡尔·冯·弗里希发表了他对蜜蜂摇摆舞的研究文章，负责寻找蜜源的侦查员工蜂会通过舞蹈来召集负责采蜜的工蜂，圆圈舞表示蜜源非常接近，摇摆舞表示蜜源比较远。 18 Worker bees have strictly regimented roles, including that of undertakers who drag their dead siblings from the hive. 18. 工蜂有严格明确的劳动分工，青年蜂要负责拖弃死尸，将尸体抛至蜂巢外。 19 On the April 1984 Challenger flight, 3,300 bees, housed in a special but confining box, adapted perfectly to zero gravity and built a nearly normal comb. But they didn’t go to the toilet. Since bees excrete only outside the hive, they held it in for seven days. A NASA spokesperson said the space hive was “just as clean as a pin.” 19. 1984年4月挑战者号航天飞机启航，3300只蜂被放置在一个特殊的封闭盒内，跟随航天飞机在太空中游历了一番。它们完美的适应了失重状态，并建造了一个与普通蜂巢无异的太空蜂巢。不过它们无法排泄，因为蜂只会在蜂巢外解决这类个人问题，所以它们足足憋了7天，一位美国航空航天局的发言人称：“太空蜂巢跟别针一样干净闪亮”。 20 According to an old wives’ tale, a bee entering your house means a visitor is on his way, and if you kill the bee, the visitor won’t be a pleasant one. Suffice to say, invite that unexpected honeybee guest to sit down to tea. 20. 根据老妇人的说法，家里飞进一只蜂代表你有位访客正在来你家的路上，如果你杀死了这只蜂，那这名访客肯定心情不好。我只想说，不如邀请那位意外的蜜蜂贵客坐下来喝杯茶吧。 |
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